By: Jocelyn C. Dellosa
Due to the coming of the Covid 19 pandemic, teachers in different areas around the globe resorted to preparing their materials via modular learning method in order to sustain the delivery of education to their students. We, at the Alternative Learning System however, are no longer new to this modality in teaching. We have been using this methodology to cater to students with different scholastic needs and interventions through the years.
This system may be taxing for someone who is new and unfamiliar with it, from the crafting, printing and preparation to the retrieval, checking and grading; the work seems endless and tiring. The tasks for this scheme are not easy nor teacher-friendly, but as they say, educators always find solutions to the complexities of life.
Crafting and development
In constructing an effective and child-friendly module, the teacher should be able to identify the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) that need to be included. The learning activity sheets should contain the vital parts such as motivation and assessment, which serve as guides for the teachers and students in the attainment of the learning proficiencies. The teacher should also make sure that the instructions and directions are understandable and easy.
Printing and Preparation
Teachers would be lucky if the printing and preparation are no longer part of their task as the school or the division provided it for them. This would lessen the burden of sorting out page by page the activity sheets which seem endless at times. But, if the teacher has to personally print and sort the modules out, he/she has to meticulously segregate the pages accordingly.
Retrieval
After the children have answered the modules, its recovery becomes challenging, as the teachers have to make sure that everyone has submitted and answered everything. He/she has to give time for students to achieve the expected learning outcomes and make sure that they reflect on their outputs individually; this way, the educators are able to pre-assess the performance and test results of the students. Not to mention the occasional home visits whenever the students are not able to return their activity/answer sheets.
Checking and Grading
The individual performances should be rated accordingly. There should be congruency to the objectives and evaluation. Thus, the creation of rubrics and other forms of assessment tools should have been prepared first hand. The teacher should also make sure that he/she gives feedback whenever checking happens. This way, the students know what to do the next time. It could also be an eye-opener for them by knowing where they got low ratings on.
In the long run, whatever mode of instruction and learning one chooses, it all boils down to how he values education. Learning can only truly be achieved if the student values the importance of education as a life-long acquisition that will help him achieve the dreams and aspirations of his life, whether it is done inside the four corners of a regular classroom or done the alternative way.
